Global News Podcast - Canada's PM Justin Trudeau resigns

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Canada's PM Justin Trudeau has resigned, citing 'internal battles' in his governing Liberal party. Also: the drink absinthe, once banned by governments and now rehabilitated, and what does silence sound like?

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World of Secrets, the bad guru. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Tuesday the 7th of January these are our main stories. Justin Trudeau has announced he's stepping down as the Prime Minister of Canada after nine years in office. The US Congress has met to certify Donald Trump's election victory. Proceedings passed off smoothly in contrast to events of four years ago. Austria's president has invited the leader of the far-right Freedom Party to try to form a coalition government.

Also in this podcast. As soon as there is some movement, some life, there is some sound. So absolute silence does not exist in some way. We examine the concept of silence and what it really means. Justin Trudeau has resigned as Prime Minister of Canada after more than nine years in office. He's also stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party and prorogued Parliament until 24 March to allow his successor to be chosen. There's been intense speculation about his future in recent months, with the party heavily

trailing the Conservatives in the polls. Mr Trudeau said he was a fighter but it had become clear that he could not lead the Liberals to victory in October's general election. More from our North America editor Sarah Smith. Ten years ago he was a remarkably popular, glamorous young leader. Justin Trudeau has been forced out of office with voters unhappy about the high cost of living and internal party disagreements over how to handle the incoming US President Donald Trump. He announced his decision outside the Prime Minister's residence in Ottawa. I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next

leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election. His government had been destabilised by a row over how to respond to Donald Trump's threat to level crippling 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. Mr. Trudeau rushed to Mar-a-Lago to try to placate the president-elect but his fate was sealed when his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned saying Canada needed to push back harder against America first economic nationalism. She's now seen as a frontrunner

to replace Mr Trudeau alongside the former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney. It remains to be seen who will have to deal with the thorny issues of inflation, immigration and President Trump that Canada is facing. Sarah Smith. So what do Mr Trudeau's allies make of his decision? Catherine McKenna is a former Liberal MP and was a minister in his government for six years, mainly dealing with the environment and climate change. Rebecca Kesby asked her whether she thought Justin Trudeau had made the right decision today to step down.

This was definitely the right decision to make. To be honest, I called for the Prime Minister to step down about six months ago, not because I didn't think he had a legacy to be proud of, but it was quite clear that Canadians don't think he's the best choice. The polling has been very bad, but I think people are just, they're tired of the prime minister and the challenges that we stand to lose all the progress we've made, whether it's on climate change, something I care greatly about. We've reduced child poverty by half. We managed to get through very difficult trade negotiations with the US and they're looming again and our economy is in a good space. Okay, I mean, you mentioned the polls and they are actually abysmal, aren't they, for

the Liberal Party. The Conservatives are ahead by well well, at least 25%. Has Mr Trudeau actually left the party hanging, left it too late? Look, I think there is the possibility. Elections are about choices. So as I said, without Justin Trudeau being the choice, do you want him or not? And there's a real choice between a progressive party that's actually working really hard to improve people's lives and a very different conservative party than we've seen before. We used to have a progressive conservative party under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who cared about climate change, who didn't fall into polarisation. That I do think that there is a choice, people will get a chance to choose someone new. So who do you think should replace him as leader of the Liberal Party?

And who would stand the best chance in the election? Well, I'm a competitive swimmer, so I like races. I don't think we should annoy anyone. I think people are going to have to actually go out there and explain what they would do in particular. Like we're going into very hard times in Canada. Donald Trump has said he's going into very hard times in Canada. Donald Trump has said he's going to impose 25% tariffs immediately and 80% of our trade is with the

United States. So this is actually really, really important who eventually becomes prime minister. There are lots of good people. In the UK, you would know the name Mark Carney. He was the governor of the Bank of England. He has indicated that he's interested in running. We have our former finance minister who just stepped down, Krista Freeland. She's indicated she's interested in running and there'll be others. And so I think what people need to hear is why are you running and what would you do? And in particular, how would you manage the relationship with the United States? Canadians

want someone that will build the relationship with the United States but stand up for Canada's interest. Catherine McKenna. Well, across the border in the United States it's minus three Celsius as a huge winter storm brings heavy snow and freezing temperatures to the East Coast. Of course it's not just America's weather we're focusing on but the changing political temperature because in a fortnight Donald Trump will return as president. Four years ago on January the 6th, hardly anyone would have predicted this when a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building to try to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden's 2020

election victory. As is customary, this process is carried out by the Vice President who brings Congress to order with a gavel. The result of that? Kamala Harris had to certify Donald Trump's 2024 victory, which also meant that she had to acknowledge her defeat last November, according to the Electoral College. The votes for President of the United States are as follows. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris of the State of California has received 226 votes.

I asked our Washington correspondent, Nomi Iqbal, how it all went. It was pretty normal and I think it was a reminder of how these sessions are supposed to go. It all in all took about 36 minutes and if you contrast that to four years ago, very, very different. It's worth mentioning that certifying a US election where basically they just conclude the election results is, dare I say, a pretty straightforward, mundane event. It usually doesn't get any attention. But because of this mob storming the Capitol four years ago, of course, all of that changed after Donald Trump encouraged them to march to the Capitol. He repeated his unproven claims that the 2020 election was riddled with massive

voter fraud, that it was stolen from him. But this time around, it was different. President Biden, Kamala Harris has given something to Donald Trump he never gave to them, the acknowledgement of an election victory and a peaceful transfer of power. Do we have any idea how the transition is going and also will Donald Trump have all his picks for the key offices in place before January the 20th? Well we understand that loads of offer letters of employment are going out this week to political appointees in the new administration. His transition team has got this set goal of bringing on about 2,000 political appointees on January the 20th, day one of the

administration, we're not far from that, but he hasn't reached that target as of yet and do bear in mind as well his cabinet picks will need Senate confirmation hearings and some of those picks are seen as hugely controversial so it's going slowly I think is the feeling. Briefly I mentioned the weather, the winter storm set to get worse, how are people coping? Well the weather actually stops some members of Congress from attending the certification process today I mean mean, you know, DC is very much in the middle of a winter storm and it's created so many hazardous conditions for not just people here in DC, but in other parts of America, which have got it much worse. And we're not quite sure exactly when it will end, but it is expected to continue, you know, certainly into the midweek. Nomiya Iqbal.

President Biden has announced a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters two weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House. Mr Trump, who has promised to boost energy drilling, called the ban ridiculous and claimed he would overturn it immediately. Michelle Fleury reports from New York. The ban will prevent oil companies from leasing waters for new drilling along the east and west coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Bering Sea. It's an attempt to protect Joe Biden's climate legacy from President-elect Donald Trump,

who has pushed for more oil and gas drilling and downplayed the effects of climate change. Experts believe the law used, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, can't easily be reversed. The Trump administration would need Congress to help change the law. Michelle Fleury. It's not often that we like to have silence in a podcast. But a new book called The Natural History of Silence suggests that even something we think is silent rarely is. Its author is the eco-acoustic historian Jérôme Souire. Silence is the absence of any vibration. But this kind of absolute silence does not really

exist outdoor on the earth because there is always some sound, some noise, because there is always some movement and as soon as there is some movement, some life, there is some sound. This is a kind of natural silence. Mostly it's actually a situation when there is no noise due to human machines like our cars or planes, and where you can perceive the sounds of other living organisms like birds. So the sounds of insects, of frogs, toads, or maybe just the sound of the wind through the leaves. The signs I evoke at the beginning of the book, which is a sign that you can meet where you are in the mountains during the winter, because of the snow you have very specific acoustic conditions, because most of the sound is absorbed.

You still have some birds that are active or some animals that move through the forest or through the mountain. Silence in nature can be good because it's a restless situation where you can actually because it's a restless situation where you can actually think, decrease your stress, but in some way can be very stressful when you're in a situation where there is no sound at all, that means that there is no life around. During the pandemic, we stopped to move mostly, so we stopped our machines. So the soundscape in particular in cities was completely different. Plenty of people talked about that, that was so great. I could hear the birds again in the trees. And the second point was so that we had some more time as well. So we could spend a bit more time, even if we are just on the window,

we could just take a bit more time listening outdoor. Eco-acoustic historian, Jérôme Suére. Still to come. Here we are with two beautiful crystal water glasses, well-looshed, stirred. I quite like the drink, actually. George, you're going to take the first sip of the absinthe that you've mixed. The drink absinthe, once banned by governments, now rehabilitated and soaring in popularity.

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Herbert Kickle has one of the lowest personal approval ratings of any politician in Austria. Yet the leader of the Freedom Party could become Austria's first far-right Chancellor since the Second World War when it was under Nazi rule. The party won the most votes and MPs in September's general election. However, the Austrian President, Alexander van der Bellen, didn't ask Mr. Kickel to form a government. On Monday, after talks to form a centrist alliance collapsed at the weekend, the president was left with no choice but to ask the Freedom Party leader to try to build a coalition. Mr. Kickel has the confidence to find viable solutions within the framework of government

negotiations. I have therefore instructed him to enter into talks with the Austrian People's Party to form a federal government. Herbert Kickel will keep me informed about the progress of these talks. I did not take this step lightly. I will continue to take care that the principles and rules of our constitution are correctly respected and adhered to. If the Freedom Party and the centre-right Austrian People's Party can't form a coalition government, this could trigger a fresh election. I got more from our Vienna correspondent, Bethany Bell. Just how controversial a figure is Herbert Kickle? He's controversial, right? He's abrasive, he has a very pugnacious style. He's called President Fander Bellin in the past, who's 80 years old, he's called him the mummy in the Hofburg Palace, where he has his office. His views on immigration and gender politics have upset many people. However, at the same

time he is a clever strategist, even his opponents say so, he's brought his party to the best result they've ever had and he has shifted his tone just before the election, he shifted his tone to appeal to more middle-of-the-road voters. He said he wants to be what he calls a Volkskanzler, a people's chancellor, and that's a term that's worried some Austrians because it's a term the Nazis used for Adolf Hitler, although some other Austrian politicians have also used it. And he's embraced conspiracy theories, claiming that a deem worming agent was effective against COVID-19 and also when he was Interior Minister in 2018 the Domestic Intelligence Agency officers were raided because he said he Mr.

Kieckle was trying to purge it of Conservative Party loyalists and something that he denies. The Freedom Party and the Austrian People's Party did briefly govern together six years ago. What are the chances of them actually being able to pull this off, make another coalition? They have similar policies on a number of different issues, notably immigration, both take a very tough line against migration, but they disagree quite strongly on the issue of the EU. The Freedom Party is very Euro-skeptic, the Conservative People's Party is very pro-EU and they also disagree on aid for Ukraine. The Freedom Party is friendly towards Russia.

The People's Party has supported the Ukrainian government. Bethany Bell. The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has released a special edition timed to mark the 10th anniversary of an Islamist attack on its offices in Paris. 12 people were killed, including the magazine's editor and a number of other cartoonists, columnists and members of staff. Your original editor Danny Aberhart reports.

Indestructible, proclaims the special edition's front cover, above a cartoon of a chuckling man reading Charlie Hebdo while sitting on top of the muzzle of an assault weapon. It's an image that chimes with an editorial from its director and co-owner, known under the nom de plume Riss. The desire to laugh will never cease, he writes, casting laughter, irony and caricature as manifestations of optimism. Riss was shot and injured when the two French-born Islamist attackers, brothers of Algerian descent, burst into the weeklies' offices and started killing those gathered for an editorial meeting. The magazine had long faced death threats after reprinting controversial

cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Shali Ebdo remains irreverent. Inside is more provocative content. Four pages of winning entries in a competition it organised for the funniest and meanest caricatures of God. Danny Eberhardt. In the war in Gaza there appears to have been the tiniest bit of movement towards a ceasefire deal. On Sunday the BBC was shown a list of 34 hostages whom Hamas suggested it's willing to give up in return for a ceasefire and a release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

However, Israel has said that Hamas has not clarified who on the list is still alive. One of the names there is 84 year old Oded Lifshitz. He was abducted along with his wife Yocheved. She was released after 16 days but Oded remains in captivity after 458 days. Tim Franks spoke to their daughter Sharon. I think I always try to dampen my enthusiasm because the chances of my father are slim. He was frail 458 days ago. I also thought my mum did not survive and then she just emerged from the

ground. So I hold hope. Your father, he's 84 now, is that right? Have you had any news since your mother was released after 16 days of captivity as to the status of your father? My father was injured on the 7th of October in his hand and in his legs. My mum thought he was dead, but when the hostages came back in the first deal in late November 23, it came true that he was alive, that he was with another woman from my kibbutz in the same room, that he was seen on the first day by another hostage that returned. So we know he was alive to begin with. We know he looked for my mum. We know he was

not in a good condition and we know his condition was deteriorating. In terms of what needs to happen now, I mean clearly you would say look a deal needs to be done right now to release all the hostages and for there to be a ceasefire in Gaza. Given you've been making this argument for so long, what pressure do you think you can put on the Israeli Prime Minister to take the final steps? The vast majority of the Israeli public is behind the idea of finishing the war against what is often being, people assume, here. And we are trying to do all we can to push on the incoming Trump administration. I believe that that is our biggest leverage. I know that

the Qataris are back in the negotiating table. It feels that there is a real push for it. And hopefully there will be enough in it for the Prime Minister of Israel to finally and far too late for many people who lost their life as a result to say yes, we will withdraw from Gaza. We will go for a final deal. You say a majority in Israel obviously want the release of the hostages but there will be a large number of people in Israel who will say Hamas is still a threat and it can't be trusted. It will play with the emotions of Israelis for as long as they possibly can as far as the hostages are

concerned. History shows that you can't absolutely eliminate an organization that is fanatic, ideological. For Israel to stay there in order to keep fighting this fraction and this fraction of Hamas actually undermines the achievement in this war. I don't agree with this war. I think we should have gone to exchange of hostages at the very beginning.

My father would have been home. Many people we have buried over the last year would have been home. Our loss is so devastating. We know some of the hostages are dead. We are really needing to get them back. Hamas is a bigger problem, like El-Qaeda is. Israel has alliances in the Middle East. We have Egypt, we have the PA. These are forces that should come in and start running Gaza. It seems that Hamas agreed to that. The people of the Middle East, the people of the region, the people who believe in the sanctity of life, we want a ceasefire.

And absolutely, Hamas should be eliminated, but it cannot be eliminated by war. Sharon Lifshitz. Now to the drink Absinthe, which used to be considered so dangerous it was banned in countries across Europe and the US, known as the Green Fairy. It was thought to trigger madness. Listen carefully now because deep in the BBC archives we found a program called Absinthe Makes the Art Grow Fonder here at Michelle Roberts and George Rowley tasting the Heady Spirit. Here we are with two beautiful crystal waterglasses well lusht stirred. I quite like the drink actually. George you're going to take the first sip of the absinthe that you've mixed. There's this delicate sort of almost explosion of a

niece that you can you can taste the sugar coming through as well which is there to soften off against the wormwood which has a bitter undertone. Now though sales of absinthe worldwide are soaring, up 40 to 50% on the year. The drink is especially popular here in the UK. Jane Payton is an alcoholic drinks educator and founder of the aptly named School of Booze. Sarah Montague asked her to explain absinthe's reputation for being highly dangerous and inducing hallucinations. That's erroneous that is. It's to do with a compound in wormwood which is one of the ingredients in absinthe and that was believed to cause hallucinations. However the amounts that would

have been in absinthe wouldn't have given hallucinations. What would have given hallucinations was chronic alcohol abuse and in those days the absinthe would have been around between 60 and 90 percent alcohol whereas now it would be around 40 percent. So it was probably due to alcohol abuse rather than anything in the absinthe. Okay, so are you suggesting that absinthe now is no more potent or dangerous for you than any other spirit? Yes, I'm saying that. We heard that it's anise, it's aniseed flavor. Yes, anise and fennel and then herbs as well. If anybody's ever drunk something called Perna, which is a spirit, then they've drunk absinthe

because it is an absinthe. In fact, it was the first commercially made absinthe, Perna was, in the early 19th century. So Ouzo is another drink from Greece which is similar in flavour. It's slightly different to absinthe but a similar flavor. And the seed balls basically. How would you explain the excitement around it? Because there is an excitement around absinthe, isn't there? There really is. And it's a few things. It's to do with the fact that drinking absinthe is an experience and people are looking for experiences nowadays. The fact that it does

La Louche, which the person in the clip mentioned, the spirit goes milky coloured with the addition of water. So when they talked about him mixing the drink, all he'd done was add water to it. Add water to it. And if anybody's been on holiday in France and had pastis, for instance, that's what it is. They've added water to it. And then the sugar, that takes away some of the bitterness from the wormwood but also this accoutrement to go with the drinking of the absinthe particularly in cocktail bars there's the beautiful fountain which is a water fountain with spigots and it's quite often art

nouveau and then there's a spoon that you put on top of the glass which you put the sugar cube on and you drip the water through it so it's a whole ritual as well as looking good for Instagram and for your videos, for your reels, but also it's got this naughty reputation and I think people are interested in that because of this reputation from the Belle Epoque. But there is no reason that this is more evil than any other one or naughtier? No, not at all, but it was the fact that the people who were drinking it, they were the sort of people who would be the Bohemians and going were drinking it, they were the sort of people who would be the Bohemians and going out and being naughty and high profile people. So it was associated with artists who lived this rather loose lifestyle. Jane Payton.

And that's all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll and the producer was Alison Davis. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritzen. Until next time, goodbye. Delve into a world of secrets. The BBC's Global Investigations podcast, breaking major news stories around

the world. A BBC investigation finds that Mohammed Al Fayed, former owner of Harrods, was accused of raping five members of staff. Mohammed Al Fayed was like an apex predator. From the top of British society to the heart of global fashion brands. The former boss of clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch is accused of exploiting young men for sex. That world has eaten up and spit out a lot of young and attractive guys. Gripping Investigations, available to listen to now, with more coming soon.

Search for World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts. And click, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode.